Soya industry attracts attention of Venture Capital Trust Fund

The Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) wants a substantial portion of its Agricultural Fund to go into soya value chain.

The Fund’s Board recently approved the Gh20million facility to promote agricultural financing.

According to Chief Executive Officer of the Trust Fund, Daniel Duku, there are potentials in the soya industry which requires adequate funding.

“That is why we will be convincing the Board to allocate a portion of the Agric Fund to the soya industry,” he said.

The VCTF established the Soya Value Chain Project with the objective of financing seed germination and production of soya beans for the poultry industry.

The initiative targets nucleus farmers, out-growers and farmer-based organizations to build partnerships with key institutions, especially incubators and centres of innovation, to promote entrepreneurship.

Oil miller, Kwasi Akomea Kyemanteng, has his company processing soya beans into soya cake and oil to mainly serve the local poultry industry.

He says there are dire constraints in the soya value chain, including access to soya beans as raw material for processing, power crisis and the preference of poultry farmers to source foreign feed.

“Ghana should put in place policies that will ensure the value chain in Ghana works,” he said.

It has been observed farmers prefer growing maize and cowpea due to the pricing advantage compared to the low prices of soya.

 

To promote soya production, the Crops Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has a critical role to play in the entire value chain.

Increasing the linkage between research, farmers and extension remains critical to improve production levels, says Dr. Stephen Amoah, research scientist at the CRI.

His Institute has been developing improved crop varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases and others that are resistant or tolerant to shattering, which is a major production constraint.

Dr. Amoah says provision of adequate information to farmers and extension requires regular funding sources to sustain the service.

The Venture Capital Trust Fund is seeking an alliance with the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) to grow the agriculture sector.

“There is the need for us to be able to work together. We have started this initiation with the Minister [of Agriculture] who is quite enthused and optimistic that this can grow. So all sectors of agric is going to be looked at with this alliance,” Mr. Duku stated.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

African governments urged to tap opportunities in soybean

Increasing the use of soybean in diets has a lot of nutritional benefits and will also create the critically needed demand to drive local production and boost farmers’ income.

Researchers and soybean processors say expanding the consumption of the "golden bean" would have a positive impact on the nutrition of women and children in Africa.

“To tackle malnutrition, we need to promote the use and consumption of soybean,” said Dr. Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General for Partnerships and Capacity Development at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

In Africa, malnutrition, particularly protein deficiency is widespread and animal protein is, often times, too expensive for most populations. Many legumes provide some protein, but soybean is the only available crop that provides an inexpensive and high-quality source of protein comparable to meat, poultry, and eggs.

According to Dr Dashiell, Africa needed to take advantage of the crop to drive sustainable development and agricultural transformation.

Dr Marilyn Nash, Program Coordinator, National Soybeans Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois, US, described soybean as a ''miracle bean'' because of its high nutritional value.

She said that Nigeria has the potential of becoming a global leader in the cultivation and processing of soybeans.

Dr Gbassey Tarawali, Head of IITA Abuja station urged food manufacturers to harness the potential of the crop.

"Africans only know about production of soybean and we do not understand that it is an excellent source of micronutrients," he said.

Tarawali added that blending soybean with maize, millet, and sorghum is good for consumption. This can help increase the protein quality of the food consumed.

In Africa dry soybeans are used to produce milk substitutes and flour. The bean curd is fried and eaten as a snack or breakfast food.

There have been calls on African governments to accord the "miracle crop" priority under the agricultural transformation agenda.

Researchers are of the view that the nutritional value of soybean made it an important crop, which governments should invest in for the attainment of food security as well as raising the health standard of the people.